Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy

A Citizen-Friendly Budget for Virginia: Providing Transparency and Accountability to State Government

The budget available through the General Assembly website makes no sense to the taxpayer interested in getting an idea of how his money is spent. In fact, the single most important document in Virginia government, the biannual budget, largely fails to serve even state legislators. This does not have to be the case. Other states have more transparent and usable documents available to anyone through the state website. The "Citizen-Friendly Budget Document" this study suggests will allow citizens to better understand how the state spends our money. View PDF document.